By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com
June 20, 2006
Gasoline prices are creeping down ever so slowly as the heavy summer driving season gets underway.
The average price of regular unleaded gasoline across the country is $2.86 a gallon and that is down 4 cents from one week ago, according to AAA, of Hawthorne, Fla.
Midgrade and premium gasoline are also down 4 cents. Midgrade is selling for an average of $3.04 a gallon while premium is selling for $3.15.
Diesel fuel has dropped a penny to $2.97 a gallon.
Drivers in southern California are paying the highest average price in the country for gasoline where Coronado residents are paying $3.69 a gallon.
Drivers in Dayton, Ohio are paying the least for a gallon of regular at $2.37.
Here is a look at some gasoline prices from around the country in the ConsumerAffairs.com Gas Price Round Up.
California: Californians continue to pay average pump prices that are higher than levels indicated by the state's wholesale fuel prices.
California's statewide average fell 2.7 cents to $3.20 a gallon, 84.6 cents higher than at this time last year, according to the U.S. Energy Department gasoline price survey.
In Los Angeles the average price at the pump fell 5 cents to $3.22 a gallon in the last week, according to the survey. Gasoline wholesale prices in Los Angeles, meanwhile, indicate that retail prices should be around $3.05 a gallon for self-serve regular.
The latest data follows a California Energy Commission report that couldn't fully explain a surge in retail fuel prices across the state to a record average of $3.33 a gallon May 8. The commission reported that the sharp jump had cost state motorists an extra $108 million compared with the prices paid by their counterparts on the Atlantic Seaboard.
Michigan: Michigan gas prices are down seven cents over the past week.
AAA of Michigan reports the statewide average stands at $2.81 per gallon. The current price is 62 cents higher at this time a year ago.
The auto club says the Traverse City area has the most expensive gas in the state at $2.86 per gallon.
Drivers in the Detroit area are paying a nickel less than a week ago at $2.80 per gallon.
Rhode Island: Gasoline prices in Rhode Island continue their up and down ways, falling this week an average of 2 cents per gallon, according to AAA Southern New England.
AAAs latest survey of prices in Rhode Island found self-serve unleaded regular averaging $2.97 per gallon, 2 cents less than last week. Over the last four weeks, prices in AAAs weekly survey have risen twice and fallen twice.
A year ago at this time the average price was $2.17.
The range in prices in the latest AAA survey for regular unleaded is 20 cents, from a low of $2.89 to a high of $3.09. Motorists should continue to shop around for the best prices in their area, AAA said.
